The parish of Ashburton [in] the 15th and 16th centuries : as it appears from extracts from the churchwardens' accounts, A.D. (1479-1580) : with notes and comments.

Date:
1870
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The parish of Ashburton [in] the 15th and 16th centuries : as it appears from extracts from the churchwardens' accounts, A.D. (1479-1580) : with notes and comments. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    9/54 (page 5)
    a quarter of “ sawder ” bought ii8 xd; also to Will1 Heth for iii clays in serving the said man xid; also for fuel iid; also for xvii lbs. & £ of lead bought xviidi ; also to Mr. Thomas Erie for writing certain records (munimentor) xxiid; also for writing the same account xiid; also to Michael Stoodleigh for keeping the bells for the same year iiiid. Sum of all the expenses iiii11 vii8 ixd this year. And thus there remains clearly vii11 iiis xd^ delivered to William Erie, Henry Hoper, Thomas Wylke, and John Coclie, wardens elect for the following year; and there remains likewise in lead xlix lbs., and in tin xvii lbs. and a half; and in wax viii lbs.; and there remains iiis iiiid in the hands of Thomas Corset for the tomb of Julia Dolbear; and there remains in the hands of the said wardens i spoon of silver, i plate and i cover. The entries for this year have been given rather fully, and at greater length than will generally be necessary. In future years’ accounts, many of the same, or of a similar kind to several of these occur ; e.g., re- ceipts from sale of ale, and from the collection for wax silver, which (the latter until a.d. 1547) were constant yearly sources of income ; and again payments to the portreeve and the vicar for rent (which were also yearly payments) and such items as rushes (for the vestry), wax (for the tapers), frankincense, &c., as well as materials for the repair of the church, &c. These, in the accounts which follow, are for the most part omitted. The yearly entry of “ profit from ale sold,” is illustrated by the follow- ing extracts from Rees’ Encyclopaedia : “ Church ales, as they are described by Pierce, Bishop of Bath and Wells, in his answer to Archbishop Laud, are, when the people go from afternoon prayers on Sundays to their lawful sports and pastimes in the churchyard or neighbourhood, or in some public house, where they drink and make merry. By the benevolence of the people at these pastimes many poor parishes have cast their bells and beautified their churches and raised stock for the poor.” “ Clerk ales, or lesser Church ales, were so called because they were for the better maintenance of the parish clerk, and there is great reason for them, says his Lordship, for in poor country parishes, where the wages of the clerk are but small, the people, thinking it unfit that the clerk should attend at church and not gain by his office, send him provisions and then come on Sundays and feast with him, by which means he sells more ale and tastes more of the liberality of the people than quarterly payments would amount to in many a year.” [Whitsun ales were also feasts observed among the people about Whitsun- tide.] In Johnson’s dictionary on the words, it is said, “ For the Church ale two young men of the parish are yearly chosen to be wardens, who make collection among the parishioners of what provision it pleaseth them to bestow.” Further on in the old book there is repeated mention of these ale wardens, who are sometimes called Whitsun Wardens, of the profit they made from the ale, and of the collections they made every year among the parishioners for general purposes, and also for the clerk. Hence it appears that the yearly entry of “ profit from the sale of ale” has refer- ence to that which was sold on one or all of the occasions alluded to above. It will be noticed that the year in each account is reckoned from and to the feast of St. John Port-Latin, which fell on the 6th of May. In the accounts which follow, the date only is, as a rule, given, with the names of the wardens.